Reproductive, Not Just Productive

Blog by Alan Fadling

1. Growth That Preserves the Soil

In the first part of this reflection from two weeks ago, we explored how fruitfulness in the way of Jesus is never the result of mere effort but always the outcome of abiding. We contrasted hurried, mechanical productivity with the organic, sustainable growth that comes from staying connected to the Vine.

Now, we continue the conversation—asking what happens when rapid growth comes at the cost of soul health, when the demands of ministry become heavier than the yoke Jesus offers. Wendell Berry’s agricultural metaphors keep inviting us to see that lasting fruit, in ministry or leadership, never comes from exhausting the soil—or the people. Here’s another quotation that has helped me a lot!

“If agriculture is to remain productive, it must preserve the land, and the fertility and ecological health of the land; the land, that is, must be used well. A further requirement, therefore, is that if the land is to be used well, the people who use it must know it well, must be highly motivated to use it well, must know how to use it well, must have time to use it well, and must be able to afford to use it well…. In light of the necessity that the farmland and the farm people should thrive while producing, we can see that the single standard of productivity has failed.”*

2. Nurturing People, Not Just Programs

In other words, true fruitfulness doesn’t deplete the soil—or the people. It nourishes both.

Lasting ministry preserves the community through which it is lived. It nurtures the people rather than using people to support the program. In a healthy environment, programs serve the health and growth of the people—not the other way around.

Leaders who seek lasting fruit must, in Berry’s language, know their people well, value them above structures or budgets, and see spiritual maturity as more important than programmatic expansion.

We often default to measuring what’s easiest: attendance, giving, activity. But that doesn’t mean those are the most important or the most lasting metrics. Deepening faith is simply harder to measure.

I don’t think we want numerical growth that comes with a loss of joy, peace, or soul health. Fruit that lasts grows from the unforced rhythms of grace—peaceful, grounded, full of love. If the cost of our growth is growing anxiety and exhaustion, that’s a red flag.

3. Fruitfulness Is Always Relational

Now here’s another line from Berry that really struck me:

“Farming cannot take place except in nature; therefore, if nature does not thrive, farming cannot thrive.”†

A mentor of mine often said, “Jesus didn’t die for programs. He died for people.” But sometimes our work can become more program-driven than people-centered. Programs matter—but only as they serve people.

I remember times as a young pastor getting frustrated with college students because they didn’t show up to my program. That frustration revealed something in me: I had started to care more about the programs I planned than the souls entrusted to my care.

Ministry happens among people. Lasting fruit is relational, not mechanical. It is the overflow of communion with God. It is born in community. And it’s that quality of life together that makes the fruit both abundant and lasting.

4. Beware the Metaphor of the Machine

Let’s not confuse numerical growth with spiritual growth. Marketing and excellent programming can bring people in. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s producing lasting kingdom fruit. The kingdom grows organically and relationally. If Jesus had meant to build a business, he would have chosen a very different strategy. And no one could have done it better than him.

One more quote from Berry that I’ve returned to often:

“It may turn out that the most powerful and the most destructive change of modern times has been a change in language: the rise of the image, or metaphor, of the machine.”‡

When I think about how church has changed over the years, this resonates deeply. In my early days as a Christian, the church felt like a family. A community. Not a machine. But over time, I’ve seen language shift—churches adopting business metaphors or even entertainment metaphors.

Jesus didn’t speak of his people as machines. He used images like wheat and shepherds, vines and branches. These are organic images. Life doesn’t flourish in mechanical molds—it fractures.

5. Fruit That Carries Seeds

 And finally, this line from Berry, one of my favorites:

“There is really no such thing, then, as natural production; in nature, there is only reproduction.”§

Kingdom fruitfulness isn’t just productivity—it’s re-productivity. Lasting fruit isn’t just output, but about people who are transformed and who, in turn, help transform others. That’s the fruit that blesses the heart of the Father.

This is how nature works: Fruit contains the seeds of future fruit. This is the kind of growth we want to seek in the church. That’s the nature of fruit that lasts.

Thank you for taking time to read. I hope this conversation has stirred your imagination for what fruitful, sustainable ministry might look like in your own life and leadership.

As you reflect, consider: Where have I mistaken busyness for fruitfulness? What might it look like to remain more deeply connected to the Vine in my own work?

This week, you might experiment by slowing down one task—doing it prayerfully, attentively, unhurriedly. Or take a few moments each day to ask:

• Am I working with God or merely for God today?
• Who is my work truly blessing?
• Who am I actually serving?

Kingdom fruitfulness is always relational. Always organic. It grows slowly, beneath the surface, like roots deepening in good soil. When we slow down enough to truly see people, to serve them rather than the systems we’ve built, something holy happens. That kind of fruit multiplies. It carries within it the seeds of renewal—not just for others but for our own weary hearts. May we keep choosing the unhurried way, the abiding way, the fruitful way.

For Reflection:

• Where might I be prioritizing programs over people? What would it look like to reverse that order this week?
• What kind of "fruit" am I producing—and is it the kind that carries seeds for future growth?
• Have I embraced metaphors of machinery instead of Jesus’ images of organic life?

*Wendell Berry, Bringing It to the Table (Counterpoint Press, 2009), p. 6.

†Berry, Bringing It to the Table, p. 7.

‡Berry, Bringing It to the Table, p. 19.

• Berry, Bringing It to the Table, p. 22.